I'm sorry to hear that.
Our Cardiologist recently lost their assistant to covid.
We lost a pharmacist and a doctor last year.
I'm heading back up to the hospital now. I was there until 1am. One of my patients that was on the mend there is now doing poorly. Barely holding it together on BiPAP.
My poor nurses have been calling me for 24 hours with often pretty inappropriate stuff. But it's really not their fault. They don't have the experience. The system has had to pull nurses from other hospitals and other departments. I've got nurses working coronavirus med surg for the first time and they don't know what's normal and what's not. This is going to wreck a lot of them I think. It's hard enough spending half an hour a day with the patient That might die. Those 12-hour shifts, especially for a nurse new to the floor, has got to be brutal on the psyche.
Yes! This is where we saw nurses going out on medical leave in droves.
You guys may be way ahead of this but I can tell you a few things to suggest that made a huge difference for us if you guys haven't done so already.
Call the house supervisor and ask them to come and meet you for rounds. Ask them what they are doing to help support the nurses. You can't lose your troops!
Ask them about pulling extra techs or CNA's from other departments (maybe the ones shut down, these guys need work, too!). Have at least one for every 8 beds, more if you can.
Time management is essential and waiting on another nurse to be free to help turn, run for supplies forgotten after you have suited up, restocking your isolation carts, etc. Suiting up and going in was as stressful to some nurses as going in to deactivate a bomb. Having someone watching to see if you needed anything while in there to reduce the number of trips in was great.
Even if they say no, the
nurses hearing you ask will make a world of difference.
Ask (or suggest) the house supervisor to find at least 2 separate places for lunch breaks. Maybe even somewhere in the shut down departments. Somewhere they can be quiet, alone, and feel safer pulling the mask off. Those cramped break rooms don't feel safe to remove your mask.
If at all feasible ask the charge nurse to make sure they are getting a 15 min break in the morning and one in the afternoon. This goes a long way to help destress and recharge.
Schedule as many medicines as you safely can at the same time. Our hospital finally conceded to allow nurses to reschedule some medicines ourselves. Again, less trips in meant less stress.
Ask them if someone is trying to find businesses willing to send in lunches occasionally. This really boosts morale and makes them feel like the community is supporting/recognizing their hard work.
Even asking for one of these for your nurses......
Don't underestimate your power. Just one doctor showing concern for the nurses goes a long way.
Note: I don't want to shit up this thread but it looks like I'll be going back to work sooner than I thought. So if you have any suggestions/ideas for me to take with me to my next battlefield share them with me (in a pm if you want).